Battle of Ladon and Mézières

Date	November 17, 1870
Location	Ladon and Mézières-en-Gâtinais, Loiret, France
Result	German victory

Belligerents

France

North German Confederation

Commanders and leaders

Louis d'Aurelle de Paladines

Captain Crouzat

Prince Friedrich Karl

General Lehmann

General Valentini

Units involved

Army of the Loire

37th Brigade
39th Brigade

Strength

30,500 Infantry

12,000 Infantry

Casualties and losses

"Heavy losses"
1 officer and 170 soldiers captured

13 officers and 220 soldiers killed

v t e Franco-Prussian War
Saarbrücken Wissembourg Spicheren Wörth Bitche Lichtenberg Phalsbourg Marsal Borny–Colombey Strasbourg Toul Mars-la-Tour Gravelotte Metz Buzancy Nouart Beaumont Noisseville Bazeilles Sedan Montmédy Soissons Paris Sceaux Chevilly Nompatelize Bellevue Artenay Châtillon Verdun Neu-Breisach Châteaudun Sélestat 1st Buzenval Ognon Gray Le Bourget Dijon Belfort La Fère Coulmiers Havana Dreux Chat Chateauneuf-en-Thimerais Thionville Ladon Mézières Bretoncelles Amiens Beaune-la-Rolande Varize Villiers Villepion Loigny–Poupry Orléans Chateauneuf Buchy Beaugency Fréteval Vendôme Pesmes Longeau Epuisay Nuits Saint Georges Tours Hallue Péronne Bapaume Rocroi Villersexel Le Mans Lisaine Longwy St. Quentin 2nd Buzenval Pontarlier Belgian reaction Paris Commune

Franco-Prussian War

The Battle of Ladon and Mézières was fought at Ladon and Mézières-en-Gâtinais between the French Army of the Loire led by Louis d'Aurelle de Paladines and Imperial German Army led by Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia on November 17, 1870. During the battle the Prussians forced the French forces to retreat into the Bellegarde woods. Although the French army was quickly defeated in this battle, it showed the Prussians the substantial size of the French XX corps. the engagement showed the Germans that substantial forces of the French XX Corps were present on the battlefield. The defeat caused great damage to French morale. On November 17 the French attacked the Prussians again at the Battle of Beaune-la-Rolande, but they were defeated again.

Background

On November 9, 1870, the Army of the Loire of France by d'Aurelle de Paladines commanding army defeated the Bavarians under the command of Lieutenant General of the Infantry Von der Tann in the Battle of Coulmiers, forcing the Bavarians to reel from Orléans. The French could not pursue, but d'Aurelle became a threat to the German Siege of Paris. Facing the situation, the German High Command ordered Prince Friedrich Karl to quickly march from Metz to Loire. After much maneuvering, he pulled through Sens, Bambouillet, Nemours, and Pithiviers. Now the goal of the Prince-Marshal of Prussia was to join forces with the legion of Friedrich Franz II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, between Toury and Prithiviers. At that time, his army would be deployed to the north of the French to drive d'Aurelle to the left bank of the Loire.

To accomplish this, Mecklenburg also received orders to shift his positions to the west, so that his troops would look south when Friedrich Karl's army arrived. Meanwhile, d'Aurelle seemed to dodge a decisive battle with the Prussian Prince, and on November 23, the French Minister for the legions ordered the army to head towards the Paris. Several divisions were assigned by him to pave the way. On the same day the German X Army Corps which was part of the Second Army, was stationed at Beaune-la-Rolande, with the 38th Infantry brigade of General Wedell and the Cavalry brigade of General Rautzau. The remains of the X Corps were near Montargis. From these positions, they sent patrols on all sides and discovered French detachments in all the vicinity.

The Battle

Subsequent events pushed d'Aurelle back into the defensive position once again. To carry out the consolidation mission at Beaune on 24 November, the brigades of Lehmann and Valentini that day marched two routes from Montargis to Ladon and Corbeilles. Attached to Valentini's brigade was a corps of artillery. The French advanced from the forests east of Orléans in three powerful vertical formations to cover the left flank of the Germans. While the French army had over 30,000 soldiers, the German army had only 12,000. Two German brigades were deployed to the left and the artillery corps was brought back to Beaune, and a strong offensive campaign was launched by the against the French attack.

At 11 am, Lehmann's forces confronted the midfield XII Corps of France, and defeated the enemy with a short but heated battle. When the French army was ordered to retreat, only a company of Prussians continued to pursuit the enemy. The vast majority of Lehmann's brigade continued on towards Beaune. Following Lehmann's victory at Ladon, Valentini also defeated the French. After Valentini's victory at Maizières, the two brigades united and drove the French to the Bellegarde forest.

After the battle, the German army continued its march to Beaune, and on the 25th of November, 1870 most of the X Army assembled at Beaune-la-Rolande. While the Germans suffered casualties of 13 officers and 220 men, the number of French killed and wounded was even greater, with 1 officer and 170 French soldiers taken prisoner.

References

^ Julius von Pflugk-Harttung, Wilfred James Long, Adolf Sonnenschein, The Franco-German war, 1870-1871, Page 201
^ Wilhelm Rüstow, The war for the Rhine frontier, 1870: Its political and military history, Volume 1, Page 9
^ Edmund Ollier, Cassell's history of the war between France and Germany, 1870-1871, Tập 1, trang 527
^ "The French Campaign, 1870-1871: Military Description"
J. Scheibert, Der Krieg Zwischen Frankreich Und Deutschland in Den Jahren 1870/71
Sir Lonsdale Augustus Hale, The "people's war" in France, 1870-1871, Page 165
J. Scheibert, Der Krieg Zwischen Frankreich Und Deutschland in Den Jahren 1870/71, Page 243
^ Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Karl Marx, Frederick Engels: collected works, Page 205
"Men who have made the new German empire. A series of brief biographic sketches"

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